History
When USC was founded in 1880, Los Angeles was transforming from a small town to a progressive city. In eight years, the city's population swelled from 11,000 to 70,000. Before L.A.'s streets were even paved, these new Angelenos had established the University of Southern California in order to train the professionals necessary to serve the emerging metropolis. Among the professionals most in demand were teachers and school administrators. Classes in education at USC began in the 1890s with a Department of Pedagogy. The Department of Education was established in 1909 as part of the College, and the formal School of Education was established in 1918 with Thomas Blanchard Stowell as the founding dean.
During the 1960s, the teaching profession changed substantially. Explosive growth in Southern California led to a rapid expansion of the public school system. There was a sudden shortage of qualified teachers, a rise in the development of teachers' unions, a demand for greater professionalism of school administrators, and the centralization of schools into unified school districts. Rossier responded to these changes by refocusing on the professional training and expertise administrators needed in these new governance structures. Over 100 superintendents in California are USC education alumni.
In 1998, alumni Barbara J. and Roger W. Rossier gave $20 million to the school, which was at the time the largest gift to any school of education in the world. In recognition of their generosity and the importance of their vision for the future of education, the school was renamed in their honor.
In 2009, Dean Karen Symms Gallagher joined up with USC philanthropist and technology innovator John Katzman and his company, 2U_(company) formally know as 2tor Inc. to create a new online Master’s of Arts in Teaching program, the MAT@USC. The program was a new initiative to prepare thousands of high-achieving students to be teachers in high-need schools. The program has since expanded its degree offerings to include a Master’s of Education in Advanced Instruction as well as a Special Education Credential and Gifted Certificate and is now referenced as USC Rossier Online.
Read more about this topic: USC Rossier School Of Education
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.”
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